Baker McKenzie Expands Capacity, Improves Profitability, and Scales Global AI Adoption with Relativity aiR
Customer Since
2013
Headquarters Location
Chicago, IL
How did they do it?
- Embedded generative AI into investigations, DSARs, and privilege review – where scale, speed, and defensibility matter most
- Dramatically reduced document populations to meet deadlines without increasing headcount
- Earned client approval and firmwide buy-in through real results, turning successful pilots into a scalable, profitable operating model
At Baker McKenzie, complex matters rarely arrive neatly scoped. They come under extreme time pressure, span massive and often multilingual data sets, and demand absolute accuracy and defensibility. With more than 70 offices and 18 practice groups operating globally, the firm must deliver consistent outcomes at a scale few law firms can match.
Relativity aiR has become central to how Baker McKenzie meets that challenge.
By embedding generative AI directly into litigation, investigation, and compliance workflows, the firm has reduced cycle times, lowered costs, and expanded the range of matters it can confidently take on, without increasing headcount or compromising professional responsibility.
What began as a limited aiR pilot in Baker McKenzie’s EMEA region has evolved into a firmwide operating approach. Adoption was driven organically, as associates, partners, and litigation support teams saw results firsthand and pushed aiR into active matters across practices and geographies.
"aiR doesn’t just save time. It has created opportunities we couldn’t pursue before. It’s now an essential part of how we work globally."
Javier Nolasco, Director, Global eDiscovery & Data Advisory
Embedding AI Across Complex Legal Workflows
Historically, large-scale review has forced difficult tradeoffs. Firms either staffed aggressively to meet deadlines or accepted delays, cost overruns, and heightened risk. Baker McKenzie set out to change that equation.
With aiR, the firm embeds generative AI where pressure is highest – when data volumes are largest, deadlines are tightest, and strategic decisions matter most. By substantially narrowing massive document populations, aiR reduces the need to “throw bodies” at review, allowing leaner teams to operate efficiently while maintaining accuracy and defensibility. aiR has enabled Baker McKenzie’s attorneys to spend less time managing large first-pass review teams, shift attention to higher-value strategic work, and deliver faster results to clients, all while reducing costs and risk.
Case Spotlight: Beating the Clock on a Multilingual Investigation
In an investigation for a Swedish client, Baker McKenzie faced roughly 500,000 documents and just two-and-a-half weeks to deliver defensible insight.
The team first used analytics and search terms to narrow the population to approximately 25,000 potentially relevant documents. They then applied aiR for Review to identify relevant documents, organized by issue, and surface key facts with written rationale and citations – all while working across multiple languages – delivering cost and time savings of 70%.
Javier described the result as “extremely successful” – not just because aiR accelerated the work, but because it actually enabled the firm to take on and deliver a matter they otherwise couldn’t have completed. The success reinforced the client’s confidence in Baker McKenzie’s ability to manage time-compressed, multilingual matters and supported follow-on engagement discussions.
Turning DSARs into a Scalable, Profitable Offering
The success of aiR in high-stakes investigations illustrated how the firm could reclaim time, reduce risk, and focus on judgment over manual review. That same approach is now transforming how Baker McKenzie approaches regulatory compliance work, particularly Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs), where speed, accuracy, and defensibility are equally critical.
DSARs are among the most operationally challenging privacy matters law firms handle. Under regimes like the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the China Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”) and similar global data protection and privacy laws, firms face strict statutory response deadlines with limited flexibility, even when requests span large, messy data sets. Requests are often broad, data volumes unpredictable, and scoping unclear. Clients often view DSARs as a compliance obligation rather than a value-adding exercise, making cost sensitivity especially acute.
In the past, meeting those deadlines meant reviewing nearly every document. Baker McKenzie’s teams previously relied on a combination of search terms, machine learning, and large manual review teams. The result was high cost, inconsistent outcomes requiring many levels of quality control, and workflows that were difficult to price and scale.
With aiR for Review, Baker McKenzie has fundamentally changed that model. Working with clients to identify key systems with relevant data, Baker McKenzie teams now use aiR to identify and prioritize PII across large data sets, surface relevant material with written rationale and citations, and reduce the volume requiring human review to a manageable subset. This frees associates to spend their time validating outputs and exercising judgment, rather than performing exhaustive first-pass review. Prompts are tailored to the scope and jurisdictional requirements of each request, creating a repeatable, defensible DSAR workflow that can be deployed globally.
Case Spotlight: DSARs Done in Days
In one week, Baker McKenzie received two DSARs with aggressive turnaround requirements and high document volumes – exactly the kind of requests that had historically been low-margin and difficult to complete.
Using aiR for Review, the team applied tailored DSAR-specific prompts to quickly identify and prioritize personal data across large data sets, reducing the population requiring human review to a focused subset. One DSAR was completed in just 48 hours, the other within a week. Costs were reduced by more than 60%, while still meeting statutory deadlines with defensible results.
What was once an unprofitable, high-stress workflow is now standardized and scalable with aiR. Partners can accept DSAR matters they once declined, price them with confidence, and deliver on time and on budget, driving repeat client engagements.
"aiR turned DSARs from a cost center into a commercially viable line of work. We can move fast, turn them around profitably, and stand behind the results, which is something we simply couldn’t do with traditional review."
Reducing Risk and Cost in Privilege Review
Baker McKenzie has applied the same AI-assisted review discipline to privilege screening – another area where scale, speed, and defensibility collide. Privilege review is among the most expensive and risk-sensitive phases of large-scale discovery. Deadlines are fixed, reviewer availability fluctuates, and even a single mistake can expose the firm and its clients to significant risk.
Historically, meeting those demands required large contract attorney teams, driving six-figure costs while still leaving partners uneasy about what might be missed. Baker McKenzie addressed that risk with aiR for Privilege.
Instead of treating privilege as a fully manual exercise, teams now use aiR to screen entire data sets upfront. Non-privileged documents move forward in the review pipeline, while potential privilege hits are isolated for targeted quality control by experienced attorneys. This creates a smaller, higher-value review population and materially reduces firmwide risk from privilege errors and discovery failures, protecting both client trust and the firm’s global brand.
Case Spotlight: Privilege Protected at Scale
In a US matter involving approximately 100,000 documents, Baker McKenzie faced tight disclosure deadlines and limited reviewer availability. A traditional privilege review would have required a large contract team and an estimated $300,000 in review costs. While the client initially favored producing broadly, the firm knew the risk of inadvertently disclosing privileged material was too high.
Using aiR for Privilege, the team screened the entire data set at once. Documents flagged as non-privileged continued through the review workflow, while a small subset of potential privilege hits underwent targeted attorney review. The volume requiring human review dropped dramatically, allowing the team to meet production deadlines, reduce cost, and deliver a level of defensibility that manual review alone could not provide.
aiR as a Strategic Differentiator
Baker McKenzie’s adoption of aiR builds on a long-standing commitment to innovation and is now reinforced by broad, firmwide momentum. Attorneys across practice groups and geographies are encouraged to operationalize aiR – refining prompts, standardizing workflows, and sharing best practices so it can be applied effectively across a broad range of use cases.
That momentum has created a clear adoption cycle. Successful matters generate confidence among associates, partners, and litigation support teams. Those teams then advocate for aiR on new matters, reuse established workflows, and bring the technology into higher-stakes engagements. Adoption has not required a mandate; it has been earned through consistent, defensible results on complex, time-sensitive matters.
As adoption has increased, the commercial impact has followed. aiR has strengthened the firm’s position in pitches and panel reviews by demonstrating execution quality, AI readiness, and the ability to deliver on time-sensitive matters at scale. In multiple engagements, successful aiR-enabled results led clients to return with follow-on engagements.
"aiR has changed how we show up in pitches. We’re no longer talking about AI in theory. We’re proving how we execute at scale, under real client pressure. That credibility wins work."
Bryant Isbell, Managing Director, and Global Head of the eDiscovery & Data Advisory Practice and Alternative Legal Services
By embedding aiR into everyday workflows, Baker McKenzie has turned generative AI into a durable competitive advantage, transforming how the firm delivers value at scale.